Thomas Edward KIRK

KIRK, Thomas Edward

Service Numbers: Q5650, QX60248
Enlisted: 18 March 1941
Last Rank: Private
Last Unit: 55/53 (amalgamated) Infantry Battalion AMF
Born: Inglewood, Goondiwindi, Queensland, Australia, 20 August 1910
Home Town: Gympie, Queensland
Schooling: Not yet discovered
Occupation: Forestry Worker
Died: Gympie, Queensland, Australia, 5 April 1999, aged 88 years, cause of death not yet discovered
Cemetery: Gympie Cemetery, Qld
Memorials:
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World War 2 Service

18 Mar 1941: Involvement Private, Q5650, also QX60248
18 Mar 1941: Enlisted Private, Q5650, 5th Light Horse Regiment
18 Mar 1941: Enlisted
16 Dec 1943: Discharged Sergeant, Q5650, 5th Light Horse Regiment
17 Dec 1943: Involvement Private, QX60248, also Q5650
17 Dec 1943: Enlisted Australian Army (Post WW2), QX60248, 55/53 (amalgamated) Infantry Battalion AMF, Private
17 Dec 1943: Enlisted Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Private, QX60248
13 Dec 1945: Discharged Australian Army (Post WW2), QX60248, 55/53 (amalgamated) Infantry Battalion AMF, Private
13 Dec 1945: Discharged Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Private, QX60248

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Biography contributed by Chris Buckley

Thomas Jnr was the third of five children (sons) of Thomas Kirk Snr (born 1876 in Glasgow, Scotland) and Johanna (Hannah) Sophia Hartvigsen (born 1882 in Tiaro, QLD). Thomas Snr immigrated with his parents in 1883, arriving in Moreton Bay, QLD on board the Berwick Law. In 1903 Thomas Snr was working as a Labourer and Hannah was a Domestic Servant at the Railway Hotel in Gympie, QLD. They married in 1904 in Gympie and lived in Warwick, Inglewood (via Goondiwinda), Childers, Kingaroy and Gympie where Tomas Snr was a Labourer.

Thomas Jnr was a Labourer when he married Georgina Dulcie Nipperess (born 1915 in Pomona, QLD) in 1935. They lived in Kingaroy before moving back to Gympie, where Thomas was a Forestry Worker when he enlisted in the CMF in 1941. He served with the 5th Light Horse Regiment as a Sergeant (Service No:Q5650) until December 1943, when he enlisted in the Australian Army. Thomas served with 55/53rd Infantry Battalion as a Private (Service No:Qx60248) until his Discharge in December 1945. Older brother William John (Service No:QX12929) served with the 26th Infantry Battalion in Singapore and was a Japanese PoW in Thailand from April 1942 to October 1945. Younger brother Leonard also served in WWII (Gunner, Service No:QX26767).

Returning to Gympie, QLD Thomas worked for a short time as a Labourer, then in the early 1950s commenced as a Cook, a job he maintained until retirement in 1978. Thomas died in 1999 and Georgina in 2005.

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